opposing unnecessary, excessive and intrusive powerline development

REVOLT Newsletter 233

Revolt news 30/08/2006

1. Dermot Finnigan continues to call for a response from National Grid
on the question of need for a wayleave and compensation (news231.1 etc.).
National Grid has a 400 kV line very close to his boundary, with no
wayleave over his land. Even if the line does not oversail his land
directly or when in "swing" under the wind, there is a safety
margin restricting activities and buildings on his land, as set out in a
58-page document which Dermot says is part of the Home Information Pack.
We would like to hear from any other home owners with a nearby power line
who may be affected by this safety margin.

2. Another enquiry asks if anyone has experience of NG refurbishment
interfering with their business. In this case it is a fishing business on
land with three 400 kV pylons under an easement. Please contact Keith on
01227 760574. Do easements all provide for negotiated compensation for
lost business income due to refurbishment?

3. Dods Monitoring passed on from Children with Leukaemia: Scottish
Parliament - Written answers report published 14 August 2007, on health
and EMF from powerlines, is at APPENDIX A.

4. Following the public meeting in Armagh on the proposed Tyrone -
Cavan 400 kV interconnector (news228.3), a group has met in July and is to
be launched in September to press for total line underground in Northern
Ireland. Watch this space.

5. Meanwhile NIE has met with Armagh City Council and has written to
residents within 1 km. It was expected that NIE would submit an
application for planning permission in July. It seems that has now been
delayed due to the many news items and other individual objections.

6. A contact suggests NIE is pursuing the interconnector because NIE's
parent company Viridian owns two power stations in Huntstown in Dublin and
wants to export power to NI, though NIE does not mention this in its press
releases.

7. News@all-energy issue 95 was received in August: nothing of special
interest to Revolt.

8. Highland Council is reported as protesting about SSE-SHETL seeking
to pass on costs of the Beauly-Denny inquiry to customers (APPENDIX B).

9. Passed on from Powerwatch: the German government has called for
preferring wired rather than wireless wi-fi connections, on precautionary
grounds regarding possible health effects of EMF. http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/16/061/1606117.pdf

10. The Environmental Law Foundation, in association with R & R
Urquhart solicitors are holding an event "Running an Environment
Campaign and the Law", to be held 6.00 - 7.45 p.m. on 18 September at
the Palace Hotel, Inverness. For details email <info@elflaw.org> or
see http://www.elflaw.org .

***** *****

APPENDIX A Scottish Parliament written answers 14 Aug 07.

Health

Mary Scanlon

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended distance is between
electricity pylons and homes or schools. [S3W-2339]

Nicola Sturgeon

The operators of overhead power lines are required to maintain safe
conditions in compliance with the Electricity Safety, Quality and
Continuity (Amendment) Regulations 2006. Provisions for ensuring the
necessary clearances from overhead conductors are in Electricity Supply
Industry's Standard 43-8, "Overhead Line Clearances". The
necessary clearance at a specific location will depend on several factors,
including local structures, and the construction, design and operating
voltage of the line.

There are no similar regulatory controls pertaining to distance for
exposures to electric and magnetic fields, but operators must ensure that
exposures for members of the public do not exceed the guidelines of the
International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

Mary Scanlon

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any proven evidence
linking childhood leukaemia to the proximity of electricity pylons.
[S3W-2340]

Nicola Sturgeon

Some studies have associated proximity of residence to high voltage
power lines and the risk of childhood leukaemia. However, the Radiation
Protection Division of the Health Protection Agency advises that the
epidemiological evidence is not strong enough to justify the firm
conclusion that electric and magnetic fields from power lines cause
leukaemia in children.

Highland planning chiefs yesterday issued damning criticism of
electricity transmission operator Shetl for intending to pass on the
estimated £7million cost of the Beauly-Denny public inquiry to customers.

Planning director John Rennilson has stated in a letter to industry
regulator Ofgem: "Shetl have thrown money at its case and it now
appears that they expect consumers to bail them out.

"The council's view is that it is not acceptable."

The council yesterday agreed to demand at this month's resumption of
the hearing that three stretches of the power line within Badenoch and
Strathspey's boundaries should be buried rather than be carried many miles
on pylons twice the size of the existing structures.

"The German government generally recommends to reduce as much as
possible personal exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields - i.e.
to favour as much as possible the use of traditional cable/wire solutions
rather than wireless connections, using waves".

If the MOA or the HPD-RPD or the DH have the resources, a full
translation of the document would be useful for us all to consider.